Bus trips
Cruz Roja (Red Cross) will sponsor bus trips to Galerias Mall in Guadalajara on Wednesday, April 4 and to Tonala and Tlaquepaque on Wednesday, April 25.
The trips each cost 200 pesos for the round trip and leave Ajijic at 9 a.m. For more information and to purchase tickets visit the Red Cross table at the Lake Chapala Society, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Garden guild
The Lake Chapala Garden Guild was recently treated to a program on herbs given by Gayle McGraw (far right) of the Toronto Garden Guild. Looking on are Lake Chapala Garden Guild President Stacey Girton (far left) and co-presenter Merelyn Shore. McGraw is the daughter of Lakeside residents Shirley and Jack West.
Your family
The Genealogy Forum will hold its March meeting on Monday, March 26, 2 p.m. in the Lake Chapala Society Sala. Phyl Gaskell will discuss genealogy magazines, including printed journals, online magazines and newsletters. She will bring examples of several of these and members are asked to bring some of their favorite publications. The meeting is open to everyone with an interest in genealogy or tracing his or her family history. For further information, contact Fran Murphy at 766-0067 or Gaskell at 766-2722.
Thrift shop
Responding to popular demand, the Casi Nuevo Thrift Shop begins accepting consignment items as of March 31. Many donors have been asking the shop to sell their upscale items.
The store helps support the Lakeside School for the Deaf and Children with Special Needs, Have Hammers …Will Travel and the Lake Chapala Society Community Educational Program.
Non-clothing consignment items with a minimum price tag of 400 pesos will be showcased in Casi Nuevo’s large, well-lit store that is managed by well-trained, all-volunteer sales personnel. The store offers a competitive split of the sales price.
Consignment items include household and pool furniture, kitchen appliances, paintings, silverware, vases, rugs, lamps, desks, television sets, vacuum cleaners, tools and similar household items.
Of course, Casi Nuevo is still accepting all types of donations for the shop, including clothing, knick-knacks, books, music CDs and smaller household items.
Casi Nuevo is located directly across the highway from the 7-Eleven store in Riberas del Pilar. It is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information on low-cost transport of large consignment items to the shop, call 766-1303 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Church in a Box
Just to let you know that the “Church-in-a-Box” and “Moveable Feast” coordinated by the Christ Church Anglican Fellowship on March 18 was a great success.
Six vehicles traveled in convoy from Ajijic to Mazamitla to take worship to the tiny Anglican parish there. They were warmly greeted by Professor Faustino Garcia Martinez and his wife Guillermina, who host the Holy Family Anglican Church in their home. Their once-a-month pastor, Father Ramon Rios, who has been under the weather of late and is scheduled for medical tests this week, was there and preached an inspirational sermon that was translated by Dr. Inez Dayer for the non-Spanish speakers.
The two parishes are hopeful that this was just the first of many joint gatherings of Christ Church and La Sagrada Familia.
Shoes (or not)
The “Shoelanthropists” will be partnering with American Legion Post 7 (Morelos 114, Chapala) on Tuesday, April 10, 3-4 p.m. for “A Day without Shoes.”
Expats will bare their feet for the day for a chance to win a large shoe distribution for needy area children from Tom’s Shoes in the United States.
The children of the Love in Action Children’s Center in Chapala have been invited to show up and paint the toes of the barefooted expats. Members of the Royal Canadian Legion are also invited guests.
Besides the chance to win shoes, the event is designed to raise awareness of the plight of children from economically-challenged families who are forced to go barefoot in some of the poorer neighborhoods of the Lakeside area.
Large shoe donation baskets will be placed at the event to collect new or used children’s shoes for the village of Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, several local neighborhoods and all the local children’s shelters around the Lakeside area.
Railroad
Brenda Clarke is selling raffle tickets for two quilts made in the 1920s. Proceeds from the raffle will go to build a permanent model train track at the old train station (now the Gonzalez Gallo Cultural Center) in Chapala. The model train display was built by Dave Netherton and donated by the Lake Chapala Shrine club. Tickets are 100 pesos each and the draw date is April 30. To purchase tickets please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..”
Seminar
The Lake Chapala Society Seminar on Tuesday, March 27, noon in the LCS Sala will be chaired by Ron Mullenaux.
It features (via TED Internet podcast) Julian Assange speaking on “Why the World Needs WikiLeaks.” Assange serves as a spokesperson for WikiLeaks, a controversial, volunteer-driven website that publishes and comments on leaked documents alleging governmental and corporate misconduct. The seminar is available to all LCS members.
Donate
Remember that donations to the Red Cross (Cruz Roja) can now be made by calling the *6565 number on your Telmex residential land phone. Carlos Slim (Telmex owner) will add matching funds to your donation. When you make the call, a lady initially thanks you for donating to Cruz Roja (Spanish only). She then starts giving you options in this order:
- To donate 500 pesos (quinientos pesos) press 1 (marca uno)
- To donate 300 pesos (trescientos pesos) press 2 (marca dos)
- To donate 150 pesos (cientocincuenta pesos) press 3 (marca tres)
- To donate 100 pesos (cien pesos) press 4 (marca cuatro)
- To donate 50 pesos (cincuenta pesos) press 5 (marca cinco)
She speaks rapidly. It’s okay to just listen the first time and if you think you’ve hit the wrong button, you are given the option to press 9, which will cancel your previous entry. You can only donate a maximum of 500 pesos per call; but you can call and donate four times. Your donation will appear on your next telephone bill.
The Chapala Red Cross will receive credit for donations made from the area codes in the Chapala Cruz Roja, 387 and 376.
While you’re at it, it wouldn’t hurt to put a little money (or a lot) in the canisters set up around town for the annual “Colecta.”
Presbyterians
Pastor Ross Arnold of Lakeside Presbyterian Church will preach on “The Blood of Christ” on Sunday, March 25. The service begins at 10 a.m.
Thursday, March 29, 4 p.m. there will be a screening of the new movie, “Courageous.” Bible study will continue on March 30 at 10 a.m.
Lakeside Presbyterian Church is located on the Carretera just west of S&S Auto and Bubba’s Restaurant.
Christ Church Anglican
Christ Church Anglican Fellowship will observe the Fifth Sunday in Lent on March 25 with a celebration of Holy Eucharist, Rite 1 at 10 a.m. in the ground floor area of Manix Restaurant, Ocampo 57 in Ajijic. Father Danny Borkowski’s sermon will be “Self Hatred,” based on John 12:20-33.
Unitarians
The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meets each Sunday, 10:30 a.m. at Santa Margarita 113 in Riberas del Pilar.
The program for March 25 will be “Ethics vs. Morality” and is presented by Bill Phillips.
This talk reflects the 2012 “ethics” theme, which features talks highlighting the subject on the last Sunday of each month. Jan Steinbright will be the service leader. For more information please call 766-1119.
St. Andrew’s Anglican
As the season of Lent begins to wind down toward Easter, the Sunday morning focus at St. Andrew’s begins to anticipate the meaning of the suffering and death of Jesus. Father Winston Welty’s sermon on March 25 will be “Unless a Grain Falls.” It wrestles with the various interpretations of why Jesus died and the importance to our own lives of understanding that death correctly.
Tuesday, March 27, 11 a.m., the fifth in the Bible study series on The Gospel According to St. Mark will cover Mark 8:22-12:44. The church is located at Calle San Lucas 19, a block south of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar. Worship is at 9 and 11 a.m. with a time of refreshment, welcome and fellowship in between.